he soon came to the end of his tether; and the quick
jerk, which caused the tree itself to crack, brought him to his
haunches, while the noose tightening on his throat was fast strangling
him. But for the thick matted hair it would have done so, but this
saved him, and he continued to sprawl and struggle at the end of the
rope. The tree kept on cracking, and as I began to fear that it might
give way and precipitate me to the ground, I thought it better to slip
down. I ran direct to where I had dropped the caps; and, having got
hold of the box, I soon had one upon my gun. I then stole cautiously
back, and while the bison was hanging himself as fast as he could, I
brought his struggles to a period by sending a bullet through his ribs.

"As it was quite night when I had finished the business, of course I
could not stay to butcher the bulls. I knew that you would be wondering
what kept me, so I cut out the tongues, and coming by the place where I
had left the grouse, brought them along. I left a `scare-wolf' over
both the bulls, however, and I guess we'll find them all right in the
morning."

Basil having finished the narration of his day's adventures, fresh fuel
was heaped on the embers, and a huge fire was built--one that would last
until morning. This was necessary, as none of them had now either
blankets or bedding. Basil himself and Norman were even in their
shirt-sleeves, and of course their only chance for keeping warmth in
their bodies would be to keep up a roaring fire all the night. This
they did, and all four laying themselves close together, slept soundly
enough.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

THREE CURIOUS TREES.

Next morning they were awake at an early hour. There was still enough
of the tongues and grouse left, along with some ribs of the antelope, to
breakfast the party; and then all four set out to bring the flesh of
Basil's buffaloes into camp. This they accomplished, after making
several journeys. It was their intention to dry the meat over the fire,
so that it might keep for future use. For this purpose the flesh was
removed from the bones, and after being cut into thin slices and strips,
was hung up on poles at some distance from the blaze. Nothing more
could be done, but wait until it became sufficiently parched by the
heat.

While this process was going on our voyageurs collected around the fire,
and entered into a consultation about what was best to be done. At
first they thought of g